From Jackson's forever family...

In early 2001, my husband and I drove over 8 hours roundtrip to meet a RAGOM dog named Jackson. Even though he was quite underweight, he won us over immediately with his enthusiasm for fetching balls, his deep red coat, and his tiger-golden eyes. As soon as we opened the car door to go home, he jumped in and curled up and went to sleep. That initial behavior represented the kind of guy he was - lots of energy but not rattled by anything and able to chill out when appropriate.

We soon began calling him our 'gentle giant' when he reached the 100 lb mark. When he was attacked by another large dog at the vet clinic soon after we brought him home, Jackson just wrapped his front legs around the attacker in a form of bear hug and held him until we could pull the dog off. Loved by children, our barn cats, and anyone else who met him (including the UPS driver and mail carrier!), Jackson blessed us with his presence for eight wonderful years.

We buried him yesterday next to his good friend Kody (seen in the pic in the background), and even though we hope that some day we'll find another wonderful dog, there will never be another Jackson.